What is Government?

• Government is a formal system of decision making

• Government can also be defined as a group of people who run a country, province, territory, city, or town

Canada is a Democracy

• Democracy means “rule by the people”

• In ancient Greek cities, every eligible citizen participated directly by voting in all the decisions that affected society

• This is called direct democracy

• Modern societies are very complex and have large populations

• Direct democracy is not practical

• Instead, many modern societies, including Canada, are representative democracies

• Representative democracies are countries where people elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf

Constitutional Monarchy

• Canada is also a constitutional monarchy which means that the monarch – king or queen – is the head of state, but is not involved in the day to day running of government

• Queen Elizabeth II is our head of state

Governor General

• Governor General is the Queen’s representative in Canada

• David Johnston is the new Governor General of Canada

Constitution

• Democracies hold regular elections and have constitutions

• A constitution is the supreme law of the land

• It sets out roles and responsibilities of the different levels of government as well as the limits on the government’s power

• Canada’s constitution includes a Charter of Rights and Freedoms which outlines the basic rights that all Canadians are entitled to

• Canada is called a constitutional monarchy because the powers and responsibilities of the monarch are subject to the laws set forth in the Constitution

• Even the monarch has to obey the law!

Responsible Government

• Canada is not only a representative democracy and constitutional monarchy, but we also have responsible government

• Responsible government is when the people who are elected have to do what the people want, or they will not get elected again

Levels of Government

• In Canada, there are three levels of government:

• Federal

• Provincial or territorial

• Municipal

Federal Government

• Federal is the national or central government which is in charge of running the entire country

• The head of the federal government is the prime minister

• Prime Minister is Stephen Harper

Members of Parliament (MPs)

• Canadians elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons to represent them

• Our MP is Nathan Cullen – he is the Member of Parliament for the Skeena-Bulkley Valley

• The Parliament of Canada is located in Ottawa

Federal Responsibilities

• The federal government in Ottawa is responsible for matters that affect or are very important to the nation as a whole

• These include:• National Defence• Foreign Policy• Aboriginal Affairs• Postal Services• Banking System• Marriage & Divorce Law• Criminal Law• Federal Prisons

Provincial or Territorial Government

• Provincial or territorial governments are regional governments that are acting on behalf of their own residents

• The head of a provincial or territorial government is the premier

• British Columbia’s Premier is Christy Clark

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

• British Columbians elect Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to represent them

• Our MLA is John Rustad – he is the MLA for Prince George Omineca

• The Legislature Buildings are located in Victoria

Provincial Responsibilities

• Provinces and territories have jurisdiction over areas that are “best handled locally”

• These include: • Culture• Community and Social

Services• Education• Energy• Health • Municipal Affairs• Tourism• Transportation

Municipal Governments

• Municipal governments are ones that run a city, town, village, county, or region.

• There are about 4000 municipal governments across Canada

• This level of government has the greatest amount of contact with individual citizens.

• The head of a municipal government is a mayor

• Our mayor is Rob MacDougall

• We also elect city councillors or aldermen to represent us on council.

• Fort St. James has four city councillors – Dave Birdi, Brenda Gouglas, Kris Nielsen, and Brad Miller

Municipal Responsibilities

• Municipal governments are in charge of local matters

• Business licensing • Streets and sidewalks• Parks, swimming pools,

ice rinks, and libraries• Water supply• Fire protection• Policing (sometimes)• Garbage collection and

disposal• Sewage treatment

Elections

• Countries that are democracies hold regular elections so citizens can choose those people who represent them

• A federal election must be held at least once every 5 years

• The last federal election was May 2, 2011

• A provincial election must be held at least once every 5 years

• In BC, we have a fixed election date – a provincial election is held every 4 years in May – last one was May 14, 2013

• Municipal elections are held every 2 to 3 years – usually in November in BC

• Last year, municipal elections took place on November 17, 2014